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Temporal and spatial dimension of dissolved oxygen saturation with fluidic oscillator and Mazzei air injector in soil-less irrigation systems

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Abstract

The wider scale use of aerated water for irrigation has been limited by dis-uniformity of aeration in the field, limited longevity of oxygen in irrigation water and lack of knowledge of what oxygen concentration brings optimal growth. Two options are presented for increasing dissolved oxygen (DO) in irrigation water: Venturi (VT) and fluidic oscillator (FO) aeration systems. Sweet corn was grown in pots to evaluate the effect of aerated water. Compared to the control treatment (CK), VT and FO showed an increase in irrigated water DO in the irrigation tank and feeding pots after aeration. Incorporation of surfactant in the irrigation water significantly improved DO level for the VT and FO treatment. Typically the DO levels reached a peak when the pump is turned off and then decline to a minimum after 24 h. The VT and FO systems had a higher magnitude and duration of the DO level in the water in all treatments compared to the CK system. The FO aeration maintained the longest duration of elevated DO in the water by a factor of two compared to the VT aeration. Compared to the CK, the best result on longevity and DO concentration was achieved using 4 ppm of a non-ionic surfactant. The corn biomass was significantly greater for the VT compared to both the FO and CK treatments.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend recognition to Central Queensland University, Australia, the financial support by Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (U1504512), and the University of Sheffield, UK, for their support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou, 450011, Henan, China

    Hongjun Lei

  2. Institute of Future Farming Systems, School of Medical and Applied Science, CQUniversity, Rockhampton, QLD, 4702, Australia

    Surya Bhattarai & David J. Midmore

  3. School of Engineering and Technology, CQUniversity, Rockhampton, QLD, 4702, Australia

    Ron Balsys

  4. Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK

    Thomas Holmes & William Zimmerman

Authors
  1. Hongjun Lei
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  2. Surya Bhattarai
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  3. Ron Balsys
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  4. David J. Midmore
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  5. Thomas Holmes
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  6. William Zimmerman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ron Balsys.

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Communicated by D. Intrigliolo.

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Lei, H., Bhattarai, S., Balsys, R. et al. Temporal and spatial dimension of dissolved oxygen saturation with fluidic oscillator and Mazzei air injector in soil-less irrigation systems. Irrig Sci 34, 421–430 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0512-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-016-0512-x

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